Time Heals All Wounds
by theyaremagicallydelicious
Summary: The third task from Ron's POV. Ron and Hermione must find comfort in each other as the world turns darker and the need to support their best friend becomes greater.


AN: Thanks for reading, please review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Time Heals All Wounds

Ron sighed. The third task was turning out to be rather boring. The champions were all in the maze and the audience could not see what was going on inside. They could hear the champions yelling curses and muttering spells, but that was the only excitement there was. For Ron, it was rather stressing to hear his best friend screaming and hollering and not being able to see him.

            Hermione sat next to him, chewing on her fingernails. She seemed very tense. Ron was worried too, but Harry was as prepared as it was possible to be. He would be okay…hopefully. Suddenly they heard screaming and Ron recognized it at once. "_Stupefy! Impedimenta! Impedimenta_!"

            Ron listened closely. Silence filled the stands. Not a sound could be heard from inside the maze. Either Harry had gotten past the obstacle or he couldn't yell any longer. Ron kicked the seat in front of him in frustration. Ginny turned around and gave him a dirty look. A comforting hand was on his shoulder in seconds. 

            "He'll be okay, Ron. Harry always pulls through," Hermione said quietly. But the worry on her face was too evident for Ron to believe her. Ron stared at the maze again, wishing he could see inside its twenty-foot hedges. 

            "_Crucio_!" A voice shouted from inside the maze. Ron's jaw dropped. He knew that voice…it was Viktor Krum. But…he wouldn't do an Unforgivable Curse would he? Loud screams sounded and echoed across the stadium. Ron wasn't sure, but he thought they must be Cedric's. He saw Dumbledore and a few of the other teachers exchanging looks. In one sweeping motion, Dumbledore had rose from the judges' table and was sprinting towards Mad-Eye Moody. 

            "Was that Krum?" Ron asked Hermione, though he already knew the answer. 

            Next to him, she was frozen with shock. A whispering filled the stadium as everyone began muttering darkly about Krum and wondering what was going on. A second later, another yell came from the maze. "_Stupefy_!" It had been Harry. Ron strained to listen as the stadium once again became quiet. He could hear low voices in the maze, but couldn't make out what they were saying. Red sparks were sent to the air. 

            "Damn!" Ron said. This seemed to get Hermione to come back to the planet. 

            "Ron don't swear," she muttered. They watched as Viktor Krum was lifted from the maze. He seemed to be knocked out.

            "Bloody Bulgarian…" Ron said as quietly as he could, but Hermione caught the words. 

            "Ron! He didn't do anything. I just know it. Something is going on. Something's not right." She was looking tenser than ever now. 

            Ron wanted to say something about Viktor and how they had just heard what he did, but something told him that she was right. He decided not to say anything more about Krum, but it was hard to contain his animosity for the bloke. Perhaps Hermione was just blinded for her feelings for Vicky? 

            _Or perhaps you're blinded by your feelings for her_, he thought wildly. He shook his head attempting to clear the thought from his brain. It wouldn't do to think like that. It wasn't right. He glanced at Hermione quickly. She was staring at the maze intently as though she expected something to jump out of it. 

            "Hey," Ron whispered, wanting to calm her down. "Everything will be fine. I'm sure…" Ron forced the next few words from his mouth, "Krum didn't do anything." 

            Hermione looked at him oddly, as if seeing him for the first time. Her expression turned back to normal a second later though, and Ron thought that maybe he had imagined the amazed look. "Yes, but if Viktor didn't do anything…then something is still definitely wrong Ron."  
  


            Ron said nothing to this, but continued to stare at the maze, willing the third task to be over so that he, Harry, and Hermione could go back to doing normal things. 

            Suddenly more shouts from the maze were heard. Two voices were shouting together, "_Stupefy! Stupefy! Impedimenta! Stupefy_!" Ron heard Harry and Cedric. Were they working together? What was going on?

            "_Stupefy! Expelliarmus! Stupefy_!" The yelling stopped. Ron heard voices inside the maze, but could not make out the words. 

            And then an empty silence filled the air. Everyone in the audience was silent, waiting for a sign of life from the maze. No sounds were heard. Ron and Hermione exchanged fearful looks. Ron glared at the maze. 

            A half hour passed and Ron saw some of the teachers looking nervously at each other. The task was taking too long. Hermione had been right. Something was wrong. Ginny turned around in her seat. She seemed almost as worried as he and Hermione.

            "Ron…what's going on?" Ron didn't know what to say. He had no answers. 

            A loud thump sounded. Ron looked up to see two people and the Triwizard Cup. He recognized Harry and Cedric. And something had happened. It seemed that everyone stood up at the same time. There was a rush to find out what had occurred. 

            "Come on," Ron muttered, pulling Hermione out of her seat. He needed to see Harry…to make sure he was okay. He raced down the stands and onto the field, pulling Hermione along with him the entire time. 

            As they came closer to the spot where Harry and Cedric had been, people were seen crying and shouting. Ron's heart sank in his chest. He was afraid of what he was about to see. The Triwizard cup lay gleaming in the sun and next to it laid Cedric. Ron felt his heart stop. There was no mistaking the look in those empty gray eyes. Cedric was dead. 

            And Harry was nowhere to be seen. Hermione gasped when she saw Cedric and then said, "Ron…what about Harry?" 

            Ron searched the crowd of people for some sign of Dumbledore or McGonagall…someone who could give them answers. "Where the hell are all the teachers?" Ron said harshly. For once Hermione did not scold him for swearing. 

            "Hermione…if something…had happened to Harry…where would they take him?" Ron asked her hurriedly. 

            She thought for a moment and then grasped his hand and took off towards the castle. "Hospital wing, Ron! Let's go." They raced inside the castle and sprinted up flights of stairs and through musty corridors and finally reached their destination a few minutes later. 

            Ron, who was in the lead, threw open the door and came to a screeching halt inside the hospital wing. Harry was not there. Madam Pomfrey looked outraged. "What is the meaning of all of this?" she asked. 

            "Have you seen Harry?" Hermione shouted. "Where is he?" 

            Madam Pomfrey considered them for a moment. "I have no idea where Mr. Potter is, but I can assure you that he is not here." 

            Ron yelled in frustration and noticed for the first time that Hermione was crying. Tears were running silently down her cheeks. He took her outside the hospital wing. "Hey…it's going to be okay. We'll find him."

            She looked at him desperately. "What if…he's gone…like Cedric? Did you see his eyes, Ron? I don't want to see Harry like that."

            Ron wrapped his arms around her awkwardly, wishing he knew what to do. "Harry's not dead. We'll find him."

            "How touching," a cold voice said from behind them. Ron spun on his heels and saw Snape bearing down at them. "If you could remove yourselves from the doorway…other people would like to be able to enter this facility." 

            Ron was too worried to say anything nasty to Snape. "Please, sir, have you seen Harry?" he asked him.

            The usual sharpness seemed to be missing from Snape's cold black eyes. He sighed in a rather dejected manner. Ron had never seen him this way before. "I'm sorry, Weasley, but I cannot reveal any information regarding the precious Potter." 

            He sauntered into the hospital wing, whispered something to Madam Pomfrey and then walked away. Madam Pomfrey followed him out the door. Ron balled his hands into fists. "Why doesn't anyone want to tell us anything?" he screamed. 

            "Ron," Hermione said. "Look." 

            The rest of the Weasleys were coming towards them. Mrs. Weasley ran up to Ron. "Ron, have you seen Harry?" she asked him. 

            "No Mum, no one will tell us what's going on." Suddenly Madam Pomfrey came back into the hospital wing looking flustered. 

            "Madam Pomfrey!" Mrs. Weasley shouted. "Do you know where Harry is?"

            "No! I'm afraid I do not. Now please just-" but she was interrupted by the appearance of Harry, Dumbledore and a black dog. Ron sighed in relief. There Harry was…standing…he was alive. But there was no mistaking that expressionless look in those green eyes. He was scared. Ron could see it. 

            Ron looked at Hermione. He guessed she could barely contain herself from running up to him and hugging him, but Dumbledore told them not to harass Harry. Hermione was furiously wiping the tears from her eyes as she stared at Harry in awe. Harry got into bed and, after taking some potion, fell fast asleep. 

            "Ron…please go find your sister," Mrs. Weasley said and Ron noticed for the first time that Ginny was not there. "She was very worried, but I made her go back to the common room."

            Ron sighed and nodded. Hermione followed him out the door. " Who killed Cedric?" he asked her. 

            Hermione flinched. "I don't know," she said softly. "But…."

            "What, what is it?" Ron asked as she hesitated. 

            "Well, Sirius said that Voldemort has been growing stronger. Do you think maybe he had something to do with this?" Hermione said.

            "I don't know. Does he have a body? Is he even capable of doing something like that?" Ron said rhetorically. Hermione shrugged. 

            They walked silently to the common room. When they got to the portrait hole, Hermione stopped Ron before he gave the password.  "Ron," she looked down at the ground. "I'm scared for Harry. He saw something tonight. He did. I can tell." 

            "I know," Ron muttered.  "But we just…need to be there for him. There's nothing else we can do. We shouldn't ask him about anything…but he can tell us if he wants." 

            Hermione began crying again. This time she let the tears fall. She hugged Ron and buried her face in his chest. Ron thought back to third year when she had done the same thing. He had felt out of place then. But now it just felt right. 

            They stayed together like that for a few minutes, finding solace in each other's company. Finally Hermione broke away from him. She smiled. "Let's find Ginny." 

            They climbed into the portrait hole. Ginny was the only one in the room. She was sitting on the couch, with her face in her hands. She had not heard them come in. "Ginny," Hermione said softly. 

            Ginny jumped and turned to them eagerly. "Is he okay? Where is he?"

            "He's fine," Ron said. "At least physically. He seems kind of sad and afraid, but he'll be okay. He just needs time. We don't know what happened. No one will say anything. But Mum told us to find you because you were worried."

            Ginny muttered something under her breath that Ron didn't catch. "Harry's been through enough," she said quietly. "I wish he could just have some peace." She walked up the stairs to the girl's dormitory. 

            Hermione went to follow her, but Ron stopped her. "She needs some time."

            "You've certainly become the sensitive one," Hermione whispered in a joking tone.

            Ron grinned. "Yes, well Mum's taught me a lot. Lesson number one, time heals all wounds."

            Hermione smiled. "Let's go back to Harry. He needs us."

            "Right," Ron said. They walked to the hospital wing and took seats next to Harry's bed. He was still sleeping. Ron looked at the troubled face of his best friend. _Time heals all wounds, Harry. _


End file.
